While many of the states in the America are still opposed to same-sex marriage, Maryland has taken a new stance on same-sex divorce. The highest court in the state ruled that same-sex couples who were legally married in a state that approves of homosexual marriages can obtain a legal divorce in the state of Maryland. This is an interesting ruling in part because Maryland does not yet approve of gay marriage. Yet the Court of Appeals ruled 7-0 that they can uphold a same-sex divorce and treat it just as if a heterosexual couple was splitting up.

This action is legally known as reciprocity or comity. It is an action which helps to unify states because gay married couples can now seek a divorce in Maryland instead of moving to a state where the marriage is legal and recognized. Many states have had to determine whether or not they will approve a homosexual marriage that was conducted in a state where the action was legal. Determining reciprocity enables or shuts off decisions from other states, and can have serious impacts on court cases in America.

The Maryland court found that their state has always had a liberal interpretation in recognizing decisions made by other states. They believe that they should be able to recognize another state's more liberal definition of marriage and approve a divorce, as long as the couple was legally married in another state. Currently, Washington, Iowa, Washington D.C., New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont all allow same-sex couples to marry and extend all the state benefits of a heterosexual couple to a homosexual one. Some states, like California, recognize gay marriages that were performed before the approval of gay marriage was revoked.

Maryland is the only state in the US that does not allow gay marriage but will recognize it and approve a divorce. The court's 21-page-ruling reasons that a valid out-of-state same-sex marriage should be as worthy of divorce as any other marriage would be. The couple should be evaluated by their status, their case, and their reasons for divorce, just like any other couple seeking a legal separation. This case was not decided out of the blue. A lesbian couple who married in California in 2008 decided to seek a divorce a few years later. One of the women moved to Maryland, and filed for a divorce there.

When she attempted to file, a Prince George's County judge declined the uncontested divorce. He said that the marriage was invalid, and that it was not in line with the public policy of Maryland. The Court of Appeals in the state disagreed with this decision, saying that Maryland had accepted the validity of other marriages that may not be approved under the state policy. Former cases where this had happened had always been with heterosexual couples, but nevertheless the state had approved divorces from marriages what would not have been approved in the state.

For example, a couple in Rhode Island were married and decided to seek a divorce in Maryland. The couple would not have been allowed to marry in the state- they were related. The husband was uncle to his wife, a marriage which would have been a misdemeanor subject to a fine in Maryland. Yet the court still allowed the two to get a divorce. The Court of Appeals, which is equivalent to the Supreme Court in most states, deemed that a homosexual case should be no different from this. According to the LA Times, Maryland will begin approving same-sex marriages in January 2013, though some groups are still trying to overturn the law.